One Last Chance
by sa1boy
Summary: Harry falls in battle, Draco cries out to the gods to help him. Little did he know that a cry for help at the right time could get you more than he bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

Harry falls in battle, Draco cries out to the gods to help him. Little did he know that a cry for help at the right time could get you more than he bargained for.

"Merlin, help him…" 

Draco Malfoy knelt next to his oldest enemy, the man he had loved in secret for so long. The object of every desire Draco had his life: Harry Potter.

Harry had fallen in battle against the Red Elves. They'd allied themselves with Voldemort and the Orks and invaded the Wizard realm.

Harry, as the saviour of the Light, had been ambushed whilst trying to get the sick and infirm away from battle. All save his old adversary, Draco Malfoy, were slaughtered as they both fought valiantly against hopeless odds.

Harry killed most of the advancing assassin party with Draco's help, but a rogue incendiary device finished the remaining wounded off and injured Harry severely in the process. In his rage Draco killed all remaining agents of the Dark and tried all that he could to save the love of his life, and the only reason he still wanted to live.

Using his part-Veela healing energies, he stemmed the bleeding but could do nothing about the lump of shrapnel in Harry's skull. His screams for help seemed all but forlorn until he heard a voice emanating from an advancing glow.

"Why my son… why should I help this man?" Draco looked through tearful eyes at the angelic figure stood over him.

"Who are you?" he asked in awe.

"Who you seek. I am he." The voice rolled over his senses, soothing and calm.

Draco wiped his eyes and gently stroked Harry's brow. "He won't wake up…I think he's dead. Please…don't be dead Harry…please…"

"Not quite dead, young Veela." Draco could almost feel a gentle hand on his shoulder, urging him to look up.

"Can you help me? I can't move him, he's too badly injured."

"Perhaps…" 

"Perhaps you can help, or perhaps I can move him?" A thread of irritation coloured his words.

Draco needed anything but cryptic queries at the moment; he wiped his tear stained eyes and looked up into the face of an old man. The face he recognised from books. It was Merlin.

"He is caught, as are you, in tock." Merlin held out a hand in offering to Draco.

Draco looked perplexedly at Merlin. "I can't leave him. He'll fall and die. I can't let him die…" He stared at the dark-haired man in his lap. Draco looked at the angelic features of the wizard whose eyes seemed trained on his chest. Draco let out a scream when he realised that he had a piece of shrapnel sticking through his chest close to his heart. Draco looked around; he was no longer on the field of battle. He was in a sea of white; all around him was like a bright cloud.

"Am I dead? Have we both fallen?"

"You are also caught in tock. Tick the clock strikes one; tock, it strikes two. Tick-tock, tick-tock."

"I don't want to die; I've never told him how much I love him. Never had a chance at a life with him…" Tears of pain and longing gathered on his cheeks.

"You see, it is a funny concept, time. One minute you are here, the next you are gone. It was a valiant thing you did taking the brunt of that blast for him. One moment sooner and you may have saved him. One moment later and you may have saved yourself." Merlin stroked his beard as he contemplated the brave soul before him.

Draco looked down at Harry, the still body seemingly clinging to the last grasp of life it had.

"Does he have anything worth living for?"

"I don't know!" Draco screamed. How could he know what Harry wanted in his life? How could he know that Harry was clinging onto life so that he could see him one last time?

Harry opened his eyes, green orbs filled with love and pain. Draco had never been so scared in his life; he'd never seen such intense beauty and pain in such a small space. Although the energy had left Harry – he wasn't able to even smile – the spark of hope that his eyes shone to Draco, showed him all that he needed to know about the answer to Merlin's question.

"He has me…" tears falling down Draco's face dropped onto Harry's lips, the first drops of moisture he'd been given the luxury of in what seemed an age. 

"He has me…" he repeated brokenly.

"I cannot save a life, but I can redirect the life you have. Give you back one last chance."

Draco did not understand. Merlin could see this, but merely smiled and offered him one last chance at freedom.

"I know that you would you die for him…" 

"Yes," Draco replied without hesitation.

"What is more important is, would you live for him?"

"Yes, yes…yes!"

"Then go, young Veela, with my last bit of power, I grant you both a second chance at life, do not throw this one away."

There was no flash of blinding light, nor a sudden silence. All that was left was a tall, bearded wizard whose eyes twinkled.

The doors of the Hogwarts express train sprung open to show that a timid, dark-haired boy sat lonely, in the corner of a carriage. Looking like he didn't have a friend in the world, he curled in upon himself.

"Hello there. Would you mind if I join you?"

The dark-haired boy looked through his long fringe at the piercing silver blue eyes of the boy stood in the doorway.

"No, I'd be very happy for you to join me. Would you like to sit down?" Moving his bag off the seat, the boy patted the cushion down as if removing any dust. He had witnessed his auntie doing this whenever anyone would visit and join her on her settee.

"My name's Draco, Draco Malfoy. I'm from the Malfoy-Black line." The dark-haired boy looked impressed; he had never met anyone this sophisticated. 

"Wow! You have your own railway line? I bet that's cool?" Draco smiled a huge warm smile that let the dark-haired boy know that he had perhaps got the wrong end of the stick. Realising his bad manners, the boy stood and offered his hand out to Draco.

"Forgive my manners. I'm Harry Potter, and I don't have a line. At least, I don't think so?" The quizzical look on his small face, all scrunched up with a slight twinkle in his green eyes, tickled Draco's fancy.

Taking Harry's hand and shaking it with both hands, Draco Malfoy gave out a laugh that came from somewhere unknown, someplace where he kept dreams and wishes. He just knew that this boy was going to change his world forever.


	2. Chapter 2

One last chance

Chapter two. The train to Hogwarts

Draco was by all accounts, a well adjusted and confident young boy. He had impeccable manners and knew exactly when to say please and thank you, when to offer his hand in friendship, and when to stand and show respect for a lady's presence. He had benefited from the best upbringing a boy could hope for. You would only know that there was anything wrong with young Draco if you should ever have a chance to watch him sleep.

Harry Potter on the other hand, did not have Draco's confidence. Social skills were not his forte. He was a good boy, and he tried very hard to follow by example, but the problem that Harry had, was that nobody had actually ever wanted him, or ever tried to show him how to behave. His parents were never spoken of, apart from when they were referred to in hushed tones by his aunt and uncle and those tones were never kind. Yes, poor Harry was a rather neglected and unloved young man. So, sitting in carriage 12 listening to the excited and seemingly knowledgeable chirpings of his newest friend felt quite surreal. Harry started to feel sleepy, but knowing what happens when he sleeps made him want to crawl in on himself and practice staying awake like his old babysitter Mrs Fig had showed him.

"So, you see Harry, Papa says that I will be placed in the same house as he was. The mighty house of, Slytherin! I am quite clever, as you can see and I am very good at puzzles and mixing liquids. What house are you going to be in?"

Harry did not hear the last statement Draco made, it was like the ten statements before it, all blending into the back of his mind, taking back stage to staying awake and not allowing the nothing to come into his mind. Harry was snapped out of his meditation like trance by Draco's…

"HARRY. Are you even listening to me?"

"Eh, sorry, err Draco. I was kinder sleepy and did not want to fall asleep. Sorry."

Harry knew that if he had fell asleep, he would be back in that dark place again where he cannot escape, the place where pain, sorrow and hurt all blend into one. The place where his chest hurts, his eyes see flashes of Green, and his ears hear screams and these are accompanied by the smell of burning. He could not allow himself to fall into that dream, not here, not with his first friend. What would he say if Harry had another screaming dream? Would this friendship be over as soon as it started?

"Why not, I wouldn't have minded Harry."

"Thanks Draco. What were you saying just then?"

"Oh nothing, it wasn't important. I expect you will be in the same house as your father."

"I don't know Draco, I only found out that I was coming to this school when a friend of my parents turned up at my uncle's house and took me away. I don't know anything else apart from that."

"But what of your parents? Were they not in Hogwarts? Where did they study?"

"I never knew my parents." Harry answered glumly.

"Oh, I am sorry Harry. Please, forgive me." Draco's face was quite a shade of red, he had embarrassed himself with the ill timed question and thought it best that he try and change the subject.

"What about Quidditch Harry. Have you heard about that?"

"Quid what?"

"Quidditch. The wizard's game, you know, flying on broomsticks after the snitch."

Harry's face must have looked as startled as his brain felt, snitch, broomstick, and wizards. What on earth was this boy talking about?

"Harry, you do know that you are a wizard don't you?"

"Draco, stop this, it isn't funny any more. I am Harry Potter, and I am going to boarding school. Mr Snape told me that it was a different type of school and that I would have some adjustments to make, but did not say the silly things that you are saying. Quippit and flying brooms. Very good Draco, very good. You had me going there for a min... Ahhhh…"

The scene in the carriage was disrupted by Harry's scream when the sweet trolley floated in to the carriage followed by the little pillow slip wearing attendant with big saggy ears.

Harry fainted.

Immediately, Harry was surrounded by the nothing, he had not managed to put his mental barriers in place as Mrs Figg. Darkness swirled around him, green flashes permeated his vision and the familiar pain in his chest returned, as did the coldness that he often felt. The pain was even worse that normal; Harry wanted to close his eyes, forget about the pain and just let it have him. Suddenly, a white light moved through nothing, breaking it apart as it moved closer to him.

Harry looked to the light and saw that it has in fact an angel; the angel was swishing its wings back and forth, smashing the nothing away from Harry. Harry tried to speak, tried to call out for help but couldn't. Then he was being lifted out of the nothings reach. Wings wrapped around him, flying up, higher and higher to the bright sky. He could hear voices. Familiar voices. He felt a slight judder and opened his eyes. He was back in the compartment. He was safe. He was also staring into the most beautiful Grey blue eyes he had ever seen.

TBC


End file.
